In The Beginning

by Richard Webber

  Chapter Forty Nine

  I was very pleased with the progress we had made in the fifty years since the tribe built the city. The population continued to be healthy and well-fed. The four tribes were now fully integrated into one tribe, with any old divisions long gone as the population aged and intermarried. The tribe had taken my words to heart about the true God, and belief and reverence for God was common in the tribe. While I oversaw disagreements and settled a multitude of wrongs in court every week, the tribe, though imperfect humans, as a whole was generally ethical and moral in their behavior and actions.

  The rest of the tribe was having even more children than Kalou and I, and the population was growing at a rapid pace. I had considered population growth when I planned the city, and I knew we were quickly approaching the maximum capacity of the area. The river, fields and flocks could only support so many people before conditions became too crowded and unhealthy.

  I had originally believed that the surrounding fields and the river would give us the space and water to support a city of one thousand people, which had been very far away when we settled here. But I had not factored the high number of children that would be born. Now that we had grown to about nine hundred people, I realized we would be able to support more than the thousand I originally anticipated. But I also realized we would surpass that number very quickly.

  I still had no idea how long my race would live. When I had last seen my parents they had not appeared old in any way. They had been vital and looked as if they were in the prime of their life, but I knew they had lived at least four hundred years, and perhaps many more. I had now lived one hundred and seventy years, and yet to people I appeared as one not long into adulthood. While I had no idea how long I would live, I guessed it would be many hundreds of years.

  No one had counted before I arrived, so I did not know how long the people lived in this land. When I first arrived I had guessed at their life span based on how old they looked, and estimated it to be about three hundred years.

  Those such as Garon the Elder that had been alive since near the beginning had already died of old age, so these people obviously aged at a faster rate than my race. But I now believed they actually lived much longer than three hundred years, and they had just looked old at a younger age because of the harsh lives they endured.

  My entrance into this land had changed everything. The people were much healthier since they now ate meals which included fruits and vegetables, and they used soap to keep themselves clean. Their health had improved a hundredfold since I joined them, and I had no doubt their lifespan had increased significantly because of these improvements.

  I truly had no idea how long they would live, any more than I knew what my own lifespan would be. But it was obvious that if we continued to be healthy and have children at this rate, in only a few more years the city would grow to an unmanageable and unhealthy size.

  I knew it was time to send people out into the world once again.

  I called together my leaders to tell them of my intentions. When I informed them of my decision to start another city, I was surprised by their negative reactions.

  Cadune was first to speak, and as usual he was blunt in his assessment. “Why do we need another city? We’ve worked so hard to increase the flocks and build all the storehouse we need for grain. Everyone is fed and there are plenty of houses. Everyone is happy. Why ruin everything by dividing the tribe?”

  “I told you Cadune. All the children that have been born since we moved here are getting ready to marry and start having their own children. The population of this city could double very quickly, and we can't handle that.”

  “Even if the river could support them, to support all the additional people the fields and flocks would have to become huge, and they would be very difficult to work. We would need to double the number of homes and storehouses we have now. The city would become too large to be manageable.”

  “The people would eventually become frustrated as our services were overwhelmed. They would start to think back with fondness to their small villages, and want to leave for a smaller and more comfortable home.”

  “A new city needs to be built, that’s a fact. I want to organize and build the new city in the location of our choice, in the way we want it to be done.”

  Cadune was still not convinced, though he saw the wisdom of my words. As he crossed his arms and sat back with a frown, he declared, “Well, I’m not going anywhere.”

  I laughed, “That’s good, because I need to you stay here and run the city whenever I'm away.”

  I continued, “This will take time, so we need to get started now. I want to follow the same plan as this city, and build it with the houses, farms and fields ready to go when the people move in. It’s very important that we have people of all ages, trades and skills, with people from all the old tribes move into the new city. It will need to thrive on its own, with no support from us.”

  Carron asked, “Do you know where you want to build it?”

  “Yes.” I replied, “Of course, any new city needs to be built near enough flowing water to support the population, and that limits our options, but we all know there are several good rivers with excellent land around them in this valley, mainly to the south. Over time we will need to build more cities, and I have already picked out several good locations that can support at least a thousand people.”

  At this statement Cadune frowned again, but before he could say anything Carron spoke. “Well, which one have you chosen for the first city?”

  “I want to begin to move towards the south,” I replied. “I would like to build the next city close enough to us that it can stay in contact fairly easily. But of course it needs to be far enough away that we don’t have any conflict for land or game. I think it should be built about a three day journey from here.”

  Gadu interrupted me, “A three day journey for you, or for one of us?”

  This comment drew laughter from everyone.

  I thought about it, and then had to admit with an embarrassed shrug, “Yeah, actually it’s more like a five day journey to the Silver River. But we need to go that far to get to the first good spot. As we go further south the locations get more plentiful.”

  “I have good reasons for choosing that location as our first new city. I’ve identified five excellent places for cities between here and the Southerners old village. And as you go further south past the old village, there are even better spots as you get closer to the southern mountains.”

  When I said this everyone looked at me curiously, unspoken questions in their eyes. The southern mountains were very far away, and I had never mentioned that I had gone there.

  I nodded, “Yes, I’ve been to the southern mountains.”

  The tense tone of my voice conflicted with the mild statement. They noticed this and looked at me in surprise, even more curious than before.

  I did an overly casual shrug, but my body still gave an involuntary shiver. “I don’t recommend you ever visit those mountains. There are things there that are best left alone.”

  I quickly brought the conversation back to the subject at hand.

  “After the Silver River you go only another three days further south, even as slowly as you travel Gadu,” I said, grinning at my old friend, “and you come to that narrow, faster river which flows almost due north. It’s not named, but I’ve always called it the Green River because of all the grass growing in it.”

  “After building there, another three days journey towards the south and east brings us to a very good location on the Great River.”

  Here everyone looked at me with surprise, and Gadu asked, “I thought we wanted to stay away from the Great River?”

  I nodded, “We do, but this spot is very good. There's a long bend in the river and it's very wide, so there is a lot of land with water access as well as a large forest less than a day away. It is the only place on the Great River where I would be willing to build a city.”

  “Anot
her three days journey south and a little west of there is another excellent spot for a city, and then the final location I have chosen so far is about three day’s journey south of the Southerner’s old village. That river is further to the west, all the way back to the western mountains.”

  With a smile I added, “I asked around, and not one of the Southerners ever knew the river existed, but it is probably the best spot out of all of them. That river goes almost due west all the way to the Great River. It gets wider as it flows west, but near the mountains it is still narrow enough to build a bridge across. Once you cross that river the valley continues onward to the south for many days until you finally reach the southern mountains.”

  I looked around the room as I said, “This great valley, from here to the southern end, could hold many, many thousands of people.”

  Cadune had a puzzled look in his eyes, “If the great mountains are so far to the south, how can they be seen? They were visible from the high point near our old village, but you are saying they are actually very far from there.”

  I nodded, “Yes, they are very far from our old village. But they are tall. Higher than you could ever imagine. They make Gadu’s mountains, the mountains to the north, look like small foothills.”

  I shook my head, and with a frown that silenced any additional questions I continued, “As I said, I don’t recommend you ever visit them. There are some places in this land that we should not go for our own good.”

  Once again I looked around the room, “So what do you think? Any additional discussion? Now is your time to talk, because you all know once we leave this room I expect complete agreement from every one of you.”

  I looked pointedly at Kalou, and she couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you serious Cain? You know I always agree with everything you say.”

  Her statement drew the largest laughter of all, but when it died down I looked at each person in the room. “You know this decision will be opposed by many of the people. Though there are always some that love change, few will want to leave here. But it needs to happen quickly, because very soon our population will start to rapidly increase.”

  I continued, “We have to control, to some extent, who goes. I don’t want all the young people to leave, and I also don’t want the majority to be from one or two of our old tribes. Those that move need to be a mix of all the old tribes, and they need to be both young and old.”

  “We are now at a little over nine hundred people, and I want to keep all our cities to a maximum of about one thousand. I think three hundred people will have to volunteer to move and start anew. If we can do this, and do it well, it will set the pattern for the future. I would want the next city built after this first new one to be a mix of both the cities populations.”

  I began to get excited, and my voice rose, “Over time, the mixture of people from different cities and the different cultures that will grow in those cities could be amazing. This could be the start of a whole new era, a time of growth, invention and adventure.”

  Kalou touched my arm gently. She knew me well, and knew I always had to dream and look to the future. “But one city at a time Cain, let’s take it one city at a time.”

  Her touch calmed me, bringing me back to the present.

  “You’re right Kalou. One city at a time.”

  I addressed the room in general, “So are we agreed? Are you ready to get to work on this?”

  I was pleased to see the nods and smiles. I could feel the energy level rise as everyone gave their approval.

  “Excellent!” I said, “Let’s go to work.”

  The rest of the day was a blur of intense debate as we went over various plans and ideas, talking, discussing and at times arguing about the next steps. Everyone left late that evening, exhausted but happy with the start that had been made.

  In our room as we prepared for bed that night, Kalou said, “Cain, I’m curious...”

  She stopped there, and when I looked at her I could see she was deep in thought.

  “What?” I prompted.

  She shook her head, apparently clearing her thoughts. “Well, I’m a little hesitant to ask this. But... why do you ask our opinion and want to get our approval? You’re the king. You could just order them, and actually even me, to do anything you want, and we would have no choice.”

  I thought carefully for a moment before I answered her. “I know I could just tell everyone we are starting a new city, and order them to build it. Through the force of my will or with threats I could make them comply. But if my leaders and the rest of the people were opposed to what I wanted, it would never go well and the people would be unhappy. Without our people’s agreement to move, what is a huge and daunting proposition could easily fail.”

  “Previously I would have forced them if I thought it was necessary. I had no qualms about threatening to use violence to get my way when I made the Northerners join us. But I do not want to govern through threats or force. The best way to get people to follow gladly, not grudgingly, is by first getting my leaders to believe in the plan. If my leaders believe, they will gladly follow me and the rest of the people will come along.”

  “I am confident of my leaders’ intelligence and reason... including you!” I added with a smile. “I knew that if I presented the facts everyone would agree with me.”

  She nodded, “I understand, and I thought that was what you were doing. I just wanted to hear it with my own ears. Sometimes it’s hard to believe just how much you have changed!”